The Blackbird 17
In a New Light
Special thanks to SK, for your wonderful e-mails that keep me inspired.
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The Blackbird 17
In A New Light
Lilly's POV:
"How. Much. Longer?" I gasped for air as I pushed myself off the steep valley wall and slowly began ascending the rocky slope again.
He had already rounded a large, smooth boulder in front of me and I tried to catch up. From somewhere ahead I heard him mutter, "at this pace, all day."
I groaned.
So far we had scaled three cliffs, circled two gorges, and nearly swam across a river- however, due to my vehement protest, the latter of the three was avoided, though only narrowly.
My feet dragged on the dusty rock, aching from overuse. Why was it so hot up here? Every picture I had ever seen of Montana featured snow encrusted mountainsides and half frozen rivers.
"Can't we stop for a break?" I yelled ahead. No reply. I took the silence as a no.
"Oh, come on," Grayson encouraged, though mockingly, "we don't have that much farther to walk."
I threw my hands up, motioning broadly around me, "this is not walking, Grayson, this is... torture." My response did not come out as insulting as I would have wished so, after a moment of hesitation I added, "I hope you fell of the mountain."
"Do you now?" he asked, raising a questioning eyebrow. Then he grimaced, "that wouldn't make a pretty find for you would it?"
I was unable to restrain myself, "nothing could make your face look worse than it already does."
He stopped in his tracks but I kept going, that is until his ghost aura reached out and spun my back against the narrow crevice wall. I blinked, stunned at his speed. "Do you really think I'm ugly?" he asked, stooping his face closer to my own, the black and silvery metal that pooled in his eyes seemed to ebb and flow with some emotion. I suspected anger.
"N-no," I stuttered, confused. "It was just a j-" I was silenced by his icy lips on mine. At first I did not respond to the kiss and my eyes grew wide with yet another form of shock. Then he pushed his body against mine and I melted against the rock. He supported some of my weight as he drove his lips on against mine, drawing the kiss out forever. His intensity did not waver and I could feel my legs begin to shake as his tongue gently ran across my lips. My eyes were closed so it felt as if someone were running ice cubes along the surface of my entire body wherever my skin touched him. Then, he pulled away. He was standing a few feet away, watching me as I struggled to regain my balance against the canyon wall.
I didn't ask why he stopped, the answer was clear to both of us; it had been raging in my mind the entire length of the kiss. We could never be together. He belonged with his kind and I belonged with mine. I just wasn't so sure that with my kind was where I wanted to be.
He looked into my eyes and I looked into his. We stared at each other like that for a minute then I pushed myself off the canyon wall and continued up the scraggly path.
Surprisingly, he hadn't been joking that we didn't have much longer to walk. Ten more meters and I cleared the top of the path. Mak waited for me here, I could see a blinding brightness in a break in the rocks ahead and I took this to be the beginning of the overlook we had come this way to find.
Mak gave me a curious look which I pretended not to see. Instead I took a shaky breath and gave him the realest smile I could manage. I wasn't sure I quite pulled it off.
"Anything wrong?" he asked, the wrinkles around his eyes becoming more pronounced as he squinted into the sun above us.
"No. Just wondering why we came here." I lied.
"Because, this," he said motioning toward the opening in the rocks behind him, "is the easiest way to get to where we're going."
I cocked my head to the side, "and where exactly are we going?"
"To the stone angel," he assessed the way I frowned at his words, "is there something wrong with that? It's where Grayson used to spend most of his time. I figure, why not start at the most likely place?" He shrugged at his own question.
"Grayson told me about that place," his faced sagged at the mention of the dead boy so I continued, "something there seemed to scare him. Right before his death I mean."
The deputy stood a little straighter, "what was it?"
I shook my head, "we don't know. He can't remember. They typically don't."
"Typically don't what?" He asked, genuinely curious.
"Remember their deaths," I said looking at the bright spot in the canyon wall.
He didn't respond for a few seconds, when he did he simply said, "then I guess we have our heading." I nodded sullenly in response.
We both headed for the opening. I was not prepared for what I saw.
After hours of endless miles of dusty rock and limestone I was shocked to see a marsh in the middle of this desert. Strange plants bloomed hundreds of feet below the small overlook we stood on. It was beautiful and breathtaking in a shocking way. It was as if we had stepped back in time and suddenly entered into some ancient wetland. The sun shone on the vast expanse of flooded terrain and billows of fog below us, turning the dreary sight into something spectacular. "It's amazing," I gasped.
I felt Mak stiffen beside me. Looking up into his sun beaten face I saw a darkness. To him, this place meant something that I could not understand. But I had a feeling I would soon. On the other side of me, Grayson's face mirrored the deputy, but the darkness only made him more handsome. Glancing at me he said, "At times it is quite sunny and everything looks beautiful. But then nearly everything looks amazing in the sun."
_______________
The Blackbird 17
In A New Light
Lilly's POV:
"How. Much. Longer?" I gasped for air as I pushed myself off the steep valley wall and slowly began ascending the rocky slope again.
He had already rounded a large, smooth boulder in front of me and I tried to catch up. From somewhere ahead I heard him mutter, "at this pace, all day."
I groaned.
So far we had scaled three cliffs, circled two gorges, and nearly swam across a river- however, due to my vehement protest, the latter of the three was avoided, though only narrowly.
My feet dragged on the dusty rock, aching from overuse. Why was it so hot up here? Every picture I had ever seen of Montana featured snow encrusted mountainsides and half frozen rivers.
"Can't we stop for a break?" I yelled ahead. No reply. I took the silence as a no.
"Oh, come on," Grayson encouraged, though mockingly, "we don't have that much farther to walk."
I threw my hands up, motioning broadly around me, "this is not walking, Grayson, this is... torture." My response did not come out as insulting as I would have wished so, after a moment of hesitation I added, "I hope you fell of the mountain."
"Do you now?" he asked, raising a questioning eyebrow. Then he grimaced, "that wouldn't make a pretty find for you would it?"
I was unable to restrain myself, "nothing could make your face look worse than it already does."
He stopped in his tracks but I kept going, that is until his ghost aura reached out and spun my back against the narrow crevice wall. I blinked, stunned at his speed. "Do you really think I'm ugly?" he asked, stooping his face closer to my own, the black and silvery metal that pooled in his eyes seemed to ebb and flow with some emotion. I suspected anger.
"N-no," I stuttered, confused. "It was just a j-" I was silenced by his icy lips on mine. At first I did not respond to the kiss and my eyes grew wide with yet another form of shock. Then he pushed his body against mine and I melted against the rock. He supported some of my weight as he drove his lips on against mine, drawing the kiss out forever. His intensity did not waver and I could feel my legs begin to shake as his tongue gently ran across my lips. My eyes were closed so it felt as if someone were running ice cubes along the surface of my entire body wherever my skin touched him. Then, he pulled away. He was standing a few feet away, watching me as I struggled to regain my balance against the canyon wall.
I didn't ask why he stopped, the answer was clear to both of us; it had been raging in my mind the entire length of the kiss. We could never be together. He belonged with his kind and I belonged with mine. I just wasn't so sure that with my kind was where I wanted to be.
He looked into my eyes and I looked into his. We stared at each other like that for a minute then I pushed myself off the canyon wall and continued up the scraggly path.
Surprisingly, he hadn't been joking that we didn't have much longer to walk. Ten more meters and I cleared the top of the path. Mak waited for me here, I could see a blinding brightness in a break in the rocks ahead and I took this to be the beginning of the overlook we had come this way to find.
Mak gave me a curious look which I pretended not to see. Instead I took a shaky breath and gave him the realest smile I could manage. I wasn't sure I quite pulled it off.
"Anything wrong?" he asked, the wrinkles around his eyes becoming more pronounced as he squinted into the sun above us.
"No. Just wondering why we came here." I lied.
"Because, this," he said motioning toward the opening in the rocks behind him, "is the easiest way to get to where we're going."
I cocked my head to the side, "and where exactly are we going?"
"To the stone angel," he assessed the way I frowned at his words, "is there something wrong with that? It's where Grayson used to spend most of his time. I figure, why not start at the most likely place?" He shrugged at his own question.
"Grayson told me about that place," his faced sagged at the mention of the dead boy so I continued, "something there seemed to scare him. Right before his death I mean."
The deputy stood a little straighter, "what was it?"
I shook my head, "we don't know. He can't remember. They typically don't."
"Typically don't what?" He asked, genuinely curious.
"Remember their deaths," I said looking at the bright spot in the canyon wall.
He didn't respond for a few seconds, when he did he simply said, "then I guess we have our heading." I nodded sullenly in response.
We both headed for the opening. I was not prepared for what I saw.
After hours of endless miles of dusty rock and limestone I was shocked to see a marsh in the middle of this desert. Strange plants bloomed hundreds of feet below the small overlook we stood on. It was beautiful and breathtaking in a shocking way. It was as if we had stepped back in time and suddenly entered into some ancient wetland. The sun shone on the vast expanse of flooded terrain and billows of fog below us, turning the dreary sight into something spectacular. "It's amazing," I gasped.
I felt Mak stiffen beside me. Looking up into his sun beaten face I saw a darkness. To him, this place meant something that I could not understand. But I had a feeling I would soon. On the other side of me, Grayson's face mirrored the deputy, but the darkness only made him more handsome. Glancing at me he said, "At times it is quite sunny and everything looks beautiful. But then nearly everything looks amazing in the sun."
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